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For example, if there are two children who will be claimed as dependents, and you expect that you will claim them, then you would enter "2" in the entry for "Number of Dependents" in your column.

Do not count yourself.

Click here to see who qualifies as a dependent.

If you want to see the after-tax effect of having your spouse claim the children as dependents, do the following:

• Note the Net Income After Taxes (the bottom line) for both of you.
• Delete the "2" from your column.
• Enter "2" in your spouse's column.
• Note the new Net Income After Taxes (the bottom line) for both of you.

The difference in Net Income After Taxes for both of you is the after-tax effect of changing which party claims the children as dependents.

This is an especially worthwhile thing to do, since the tax law allows you, in most cases, to choose which of you is going to claim the children -- regardless of which parent is the custodial parent.

And so you can save tax dollars simply by experimenting here and letting the children be claimed by whichever of you lowers the overall tax bill the most.

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